Parents & teachers discuss students’ exam preparations

EARLY academic intervention for the students of Katok Secondary School is among the main focal points this year as its Year 8 students prepare to sit for the end of year examination that will determine their future career prospects.

With over 200 students spread across seven classes this year that are to sit for the SPA exams that will determine the stream a student will enter in Year 9, the school’s Deputy Principal of Academics, Penroose Saleha binti Hj Md Salleh explained to the Sunday Bulletin that parents involvement in their children’s exam preparation will prove vital.

As a result of this nationwide revelation, the school yesterday invited parents to sit with their children’s teachers as school staff begin exposing parents to the strengths and weaknesses of their children in the hopes that such an intervention can provide the fullest of impact for the coming school year.

“We had a similar meeting last year with our first batch of Year 8 students but we organised it in the middle of the year but most parents commented that conducting such meetings earlier would be in the best interest of their children, which we duly complied.” “We didn’t organise the meeting earlier then because we were still in the middle of settling in considering that the school started operating only last year,” shared Penroose on the sidelines of the parent-teacher meeting that was held on the school’s compound amidst the coming and going of families.

Teachers discuss with parents the progress of their Year 8 children

The number of students sitting for the examinations this year, she added, is higher compared to last year due to the number of transfer of students following the latest settlement scheme in Kampong Katok, which she acknowledged will pose as a challenge to both students as well as teachers.

“These transfer students will need time to readjust not just to their surroundings but their peers as well as their teacher’s teaching style, which could possibly be different than what they are used to.”

As with a number of other schools throughout the country, Katok Secondary School has placed special emphasis on strengthening its teaching curriculum in Mathematics, the Sciences as well as the English language all of which most students struggle with.

With autonomy that teachers are provided with, the deputy principal explained that teachers are encouraged to develop their own forms of intervention that best suit the needs of their children and as a means to complement the school’s own intervention policies.